The present invention relates to a composition, referred to herein as a synthetic post-pickle fluid, which is useful for treating metal to provide corrosion resistance to the metal surface as well as to act as a lubricant in subsequent processing of the metal. The particular synthetic composition of this invention is generally applied as a post-pickling fluid, i.e., a post acid-pickling fluid.
As is generally known, various pickling baths are used to condition the surface of metal, including the removal of various oxides, rust or scale and various surface contaminants on the metal. Acid pickling baths are generally utilized to remove scale, oxides and other impurities. However, alkaline sequestrants or molten alkalai may also be utilized. Once the metal has been treated to remove the scale, oxides and other impurities, it is desired to treat the metal with a composition which will provide corrosion resistance to the metal and which will act as a lubricant during processing of the pickled metal. In this manner it is possible to store the pickled metal until the time of processing without the need to re-pickle the metal. The treated metal will also have improved corrosion resistance after it has been further processed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a synthetic composition which imparts corrosion resistance to metal which has been treated with it. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a synthetic composition which will also function as a lubricant in further processing of the treated metal.